Chapter 15

RAW

"Hey, you were with Minamino-san at the station on Sunday, right? It's been making the rounds. But it looks like everything's going well, so that's good."

I was approached with these words right after lunch, during the class's joint P.E. session.

We don’t always have joint P.E., but once a week, when there are group competitions, three classes from the total of six are grouped together for the event.

As I nodded at the person speaking to me, I thought, "This is the first time I'm talking like this at school."

"Yeah, I thought Sato-kun would get it, but it was our first date without disguises... Also, about the phone call back then, I thanked you through Sakurai-san, but I didn’t get a chance to say it directly. Thanks again for that. And I heard from Todo-san that you stopped some weird rumors about us from spreading in class?"

Sato-kun’s class, D-Class, naturally centers around him. Many members of the basketball team are there, so when the topic of Chinatsu and I came up, some teasing nicknames were thrown around immediately. But I heard that Sato-kun had stopped it.

By the way, Todo-san's crush on Sato-kun had grown even stronger.

"Nah, I just told everyone Sato’s a good guy and that he doesn’t like the nickname 'Number Two'—that’s all," Sato-kun replied nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal. He really did act like the protagonist in this situation.

It was a rare combination, us being together, so the usual members around Sato didn’t bother us, and no guys approached me either.

Normally, I’m not with Chinatsu during P.E., so I’d often get asked questions or teased by others, but today was nice and peaceful.

"Man, this is a weird combination, Hajime and Sato... Seriously, you two shouldn’t hang out, it's kinda hard to call you guys by name now."

The one who spoke like this was Shouji, who, despite being able to read the atmosphere, didn’t care much for it.

"I wouldn’t mind being called 'Number Two' by Shouji," I said. "Honestly, if it’s just a nickname said with no malice, it doesn’t bother me."

"You’d probably get yelled at by Minamino if you said that to her," Shouji replied, shaking his head. "You’re stubborn on the court, but you back down in strange places."

I chuckled. Yeah, Chinatsu was way more sensitive about the "Number Two" nickname than I was. Thankfully, it hadn’t been used in class since then.

"Exactly. Neither Sato nor I chose our names, after all. But, speaking of which, Aizawa, I was watching your moves earlier. Why don’t you join the basketball team? Oh, and Sato, you don’t have to come every day for practice. You’re doing street basketball, right?"

"Huh? How does the other Sato know about street basketball?" Sato asked, confused. "Whatever. I’m not interested in clubs. They take up so much time and offer no freedom."

"Yeah, honestly, I’ve been thinking that joining a club now might not be worth it. I’d rather work part-time, play street basketball when I can, and hang out with Chinatsu on my days off," I replied.

"...Aizawa, I don’t care about your interests, but Sato, honestly, you’re way more of a 'real' guy than I am. You’re constantly doing basketball, and you even have a girlfriend. Meanwhile, I have nothing." Sato said, his tone slightly sulky.

I heard a voice in the distance. "What’s with you two? Seriously, Sato’s probably better at basketball than you. Don’t get too cocky just because you’re good at cooking or whatever, and the girls are all over you."

I looked over to see some members of the soccer club, including Ishizawa, who’d lost some of his standing in class after the whole incident. His reputation with the girls had taken a hit, and now he seemed to be projecting his frustrations onto Sato.

Typically, rumors and whispers during P.E. don’t really bother me, but today was a little different.

"Why do you guys hate Sato so much?" I called out. "You keep saying that I'm always 'number two,' but honestly, I’m the one being used as the scapegoat for that 'number two' thing, and I’m getting tired of it."

"Well, apparently, Sato, who’s in the basketball club, was too scared to face us in a game, and then, after ditching the team, he somehow got with Minamino. Then, just the other day, they were all lovey-dovey at the station… Doesn’t that piss you off, Sato?"

"Yeah, it pisses me off," Sato replied, unexpectedly cold.

"See? It annoys you too, right? How can you just let him get away with it?"

"Well, think about it. It’s not Sato I’m mad at, it’s you guys. Sato’s a good guy. It’s weird that you’re all getting worked up over him being with Minamino. It’s none of your business." I said, trying to cool things down.

"Yeah, but there’s a way to handle things. You, Aizawa, go prove it," Ishizawa said, throwing out a challenge.

"Huh? Prove what?" I responded, confused.

"Prove it by challenging Sato to a game," Ishizawa demanded.

I was stunned. "What? Why the heck would I challenge Sato?"

"Sounds like a good idea, right?" Shouji piped up, grinning. "If Sato wins, he joins the basketball team."

"Hold on... You’re going to bet on me joining the team just because Sato wins?" I asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, why not?" Shouji shrugged. "But if you win, Sato can’t call you 'Number Two' anymore."

The conversation shifted quickly, and suddenly, a strange challenge had been proposed.

"Wait, why are you two so invested in this?" I asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Shouji shrugged. "Honestly, I’m getting tired of the tension. Sato doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. And I actually want him to join the basketball team. The team isn’t that strong, and if he joins, we’d have a shot at being really good."

Sato added, "I see what you mean. Aizawa’s the SF, I’m PG, and Shouji’s PF. If we all got better, we could really aim for nationals."

"Sounds like a good combo," I admitted.

"Good. So, what do you say, Hajime?" Shouji asked, grinning.

"I guess we’ll do it," I replied, trying to suppress the competitive fire growing in me. "Let’s do a three-point contest. The one with the most points wins, right?"

"Yeah, but let’s do it after school," Sato suggested. "The gym’s open for the basketball club."

"Alright, I’ll get ready then," I said, as I mentally prepared for the match.

Little did I know, this challenge would stir up even more rumors than I expected.